A life changing mission
by Acemagmagrunt
Summary: Archie gives Shelly a mission that will change her life forever. Alphafemaleshipping and a little bit of Hardenshipping.
1. Chapter 1- Meeting with Magma

_ **Chapter 1- Meetings with Magma**_

_Ugh._ Shelly was trudging to a cafe in Lilycove city. Archie had given her one of the most important, yet annoying, jobs for Team Aqua. She was to apply as a Team Magma grunt to go undercover and steal information. She was going to be a magma grunt for _three months._ How annoying. She was tempted to stop and turn around as she stepped into the Lilycove department store, where she saw Tabitha, the Magma admin that strongly resembled a makuhita, waiting for her.

"M-Mr. Homura?" Shelly stammered.

"Ah, you must be be Izumi. Come sit down." Tabitha said calmly,and distantly, as if he were thinking deeply about something.

His tone chilled Shelly to the bone. Even though she was heavily disguised, she couldn't help but fear Tabitha suspected her. she had much shorter hair now, and it was dyed brown. She wore green contacts and pale face make-up to hide her face. She even used her middle name, Izumi, to avoid suspicion.

"So, what Pokemon do you have and what kind of experience do you have?' asked Tabitha, looking at her for the first time.

" I have a Mightyena, and-" she broke off, rustling through her bag for a minute. "and Badges from Rustburo city and Dewford town."she finshed, holding her two badges out.

"Excellent. And how did you hear about Team Magma?"

"My friend's mother was a member of team Aqua." Shelly said confidently. She had rehearsed this moment several times. Several Aqua grunts that had tried to get in this way were turned down, even though everything else went perfectly. "And when I went over to their house, she would always be complaining about Team Magma, but I though they sounded incredible" Shelly thought she sounded confident, and was praying that Tabitha didn't pick up on anything.

Tabitha asked a few more questions, then said " Alright, you look to be fine, I'll e-mail you in a few days if you get in- I think you will, you sound like a great battler."

Shelly couldn't help but sigh with relief. Tabitha looked up at her, smiled, then hurried out. Shelly lughed a bit. He even_walked _like a makuhita.


	2. Chapter 2- Uniforms and goodbyes

**Chapter 2- Uniforms and Goodbyes**

Shelly was absolutely disgusted. She was standing in her room at the Aqua base, in her new Magma uniform. It was pretty much a red full-body sweater, with a red hoodie and shorts. The hoodie had a large M, the magma symbol, across the hood, there were two small stubs that resembled small, black horns. The shoe were heavy, clog-like boots that were transparent in a large spot near the middle of the boot. They had very heavy rubber in the bottom, making them extremely heavy. It was different than her Aqua uniform in every way.

As she walked out of the room, she got strange looks from many grunts in the halls. _Archie must not have told them in fear of leaking information. _

"HA-HA-HAAAA" She turned around at the sound of Matt's booming voice.

"Shut up!" Shelly said playfully, punching his arm lightly.

"Already in character, I see!"

"Mother?" Shelly heard her daughter's usually confident voice. She turned around,her daughter laid a hand on her shoulder. Her daughter's name was Shelly too, and they looked almost identical. the only difference was that her daughter's hair was black, with blue accents. She was usually a red head. The grunts usually called them orange Shelly and blue Shelly. Blue Shelly was in her new Aqua admin uniform, because she was going to take over as admin while orange Shelly was gone.

"Mother….Good luck in Magma. I'll miss you-" Blue Shelly broke off.

Archie was walking up to orange shelly.

"Remember, you are to find the location of all of the Magma hideouts, all of their information on Groudon and Kyogre, and any of their plans if you can." he said gruffly.

"Yessir!"

"Alright, then. Good luck. Come back after three months if you can."

With that, Shelly walked out of the Aqua hideout for the last time, for three months.


	3. Chapter 3- Hideouts and sudden fears

**Chapter 3- Hideouts and Sudden fears**

Shelly was to meet Tabitha in Lavaridge town. This gave her a sickening feeling. Lavaridge town was very close to , and the Magma uniforms were already extremely hot. when she got to Lava ridge she found herself looking for Tabitha. He wasn't there yet, which puzzled her. The Magmas had always come across to her as hating being late.

"Are you Izumi?" Shelly looked to her left as she heard the soft, cold voice of Courtney.

"Yes I am. I'm sorry, I thought I was supposed to meet Tabitha, Miss-?" She broke off, not wanting to be suspicious if she knew Courtney's name.

"Courtney. And yes, you were. Tabitha and Leader Maxie just had to go do something that was last minute."

Shelly felt her blood turn to ice. What could Team Magma possibly be doing? Where they invading on the Aqua hideout now, on her daughter's first day as admin?

"Come this way. You have to get used to this volcano quickly. Our main hideout is in it." Courtney stated, without much emotion, though Shelly could pick up slight pride in her voice. As she led Shelly through Mt. Chimney, Shelly noticed that they seemed to be getting closer to the center of the volcano. Her fear was confirmed as small pools of Magma started appearing. She also noticed that Courtney seemed to know every passageway of the volcano, as she was walking confidently without a map of any sort. She was even able to warn Shelly to take out her mightyena because of aggressive pokemon in the area.,or to move to the left or right because of unstable rock. She wasn't exactly too surprised by this; when team aqua had come into Mt. Chimney, to find info on the origin if Kyogre, they had found that Team Magma had defended the place very quickly and fiercely. Archie wasn't even there, yet Maxie was even involved. Almost , three quarters of Team Aqua had been defeated in just twenty minutes, by a third of Team Magma. It was one of the worst defeats Team Aqua ever had.

"We're here. Welcome to Team Magma, Izumi." Courtney said proudly, her purple eyes gleaming.

Shelly had never seen anything like it. The entrance hallway was drape in team magma banners, and huge pipes of Magma were on the floors and steel walls. Two grunt were stationed at the door. As they walked inside, Shelly saw that Magma had incredible security both inside and outside. Teleporters connected many of the rooms, and it was easily confusing.

Courtney was leading her to a bunk where grunts slept. As they walked there, Courtney was explaining that she was in her unit, and that Shelly would have to go through training process. when they arrived, she was given a top bunk that was across from the door in. The wall next to the bunk was solid steel and she kept all of her possessions in a cabinet-type thing at the head of her bed. Lastly, she was given a very long list that she didn't look at, because she was already being rushed to dinner by a few other grunts in her unit.

It was going to be a very long 3 months.


	4. Chapter 4-Training

**Chapter 4 - Training**

After dinner that night, Shelly pulled out the list that Courtney had given her. To her surprise, it was actually a list of things that she could do to finish her training. Team Aqua only had three positions: Grunt, Admin, and Leader, but Team Magma had about twenty. Shelly decided to go with Tactics. Not only was this the best for getting information, but it really intrigued her. She wondered how three weeks of her time at the Magma hideout could be spent on learning battle tactics. With this in her mind, she somehow drifted off to sleep.

She awoke sharply the next morning at Courtney yelling for everyone to get up. It was seven O'clock. _This is going to take forever to get used to,_Shelly reflected as she brushed her hair, then put on her hood.

"Izumi." Shelly looked up, and saw Courtney standing in front of her. "Have you decided on what kind of grunt you'd like to be?"

"Yes, I have. I want to do tactics training."Shelly said confidently. Courtney nodded.

" Not many grunts go into tactics training. Though I guess less go into thievery. Brodie must be an awful teacher."

* * *

><p><em>Wow. Team Magma is so organized!<em> Was her only thought as she went down to her course. Every grunt seemed to know exactly what to do and where to go. She knew that Maxie was a perfectionist, but she didn't know it was _this_ organized. At the Aqua base, everything was chaotic and was only resolved by her yelling at several people.

As she stepped into the room, she saw that Courtney was taking down several complicated-looking diagrams, and was putting up simpler ones. When she sat down, Courtney started explaining how to hack into simple security systems. She then gave them practice, which made Shelly's skin crawl. They were to practice on the Aqua base's security system. It was useful, she had to admit that, but it was in a bad way. Even, she, a former pirate, could hack into and view the security footage in about a half an hour. Something caught her eye after skimming around a few of the cameras. Archie was speaking to most of the team.

"... by the end of the night tonight, we will capture the Magma base at Mt. Chimney, and hopefully have Maxie cornered!" he shouted, positively gleeful at the prospect.

Shelly had shouted for Courtney before she knew what she was doing, and showed her the footage. Shelly watched her as face contorted with rage.

"That could be any time tonight….. Izumi!" Shelly looked up sharply as Courtney addressed her. "I need to keep watching this. Go get Leader Maxie and tell him to come down here. As quickly as you can!"

As she sprinted down the hallway, Shelly got a terrible thought. Would she have to fight her own team. She started mentally preparing herself. She _had_ to act loyal to Team Magma. When she got to Maxie's office, she anxiously knocked on the door.

"Come in" she heard Maxie's cold voice from the other side of the door.

He looked slightly shocked to see a grunt come in; perhaps he was expecting Courtney.

"Quite sorry, sir. Courtney sent me. She needs you immediately, sir. It's urgent" Shelly said quickly.

"Lead the way." Maxie said.

* * *

><p>Maxie clearly was furious at what Archie had planned. All of the grunts were now preparing for battle and going out into .<p>

Shelly was going out into the volcano with Courtney and the rest of her unit. They were all going to guard _one _cave. _What in Kyogre's name is so special about that cave? _She didn't dare ask, it seemed to be very serious and she didn't want to sound stupid. It was clearly really special, because Maxie had joined them and was now quietly telling Courtney the rest of the plan.

"Tabitha's unit is fanning out across the rest of the volcano. Brodie's gone up to seek them out and see exactly what they're up to." Courtney nodded.

"It shouldn't be that hard. Just seems like a revenge scene to me. But they'll but running out of here as fast as if Groudon set their butts on fire." Maxie laughed a little bit. Shelly was shocked; she had never seen this side of Courtney, she usually just acted like a computer. And Maxie _laughed out of humor._ _Maybe they actually aren't that different from Team Aqua. _Shelly mentally scolded herself for thinking something like that. Of course the two teams were different; Team Aqua were pirates and Team Magma were nerds. They couldn't be anymore different.

"Courtney, Team Aqua have arrived at the top of the West side of . They seem to be after the hideout, nothing else. I think that they think we are off-guard." Brodie's voice sounded over Courtney's PokeNav.

"Great. Brodie, where's Tabitha? I can't get to him-"

"The tabby cat's right here with me, Courtney. Team Aqua's coming now. Gotta go!"

"Everyone, get hidden! Team Aqua don't know we're here!" Courtney said loudly.

Shelly dove behind a rock. It had a crack in it, so she could she what was going on. After about fifteen minutes, Archie finally arrived into the cave, with Matt and about forty grunts. Maxie, who had been standing there and pretending to examine some magma the was flowing out of a cave wall, turned around, with a look of mild surprise on his face.

"So, Maxie, it looks like we've finally cornered you and your little hideout." Archie sniggered.

" I have no idea what you're talking about." Maxie said, smirking slightly.

"Then you'll let me go see what's in that cave?"

"Absolutely not."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Actually, you are stupid." Maxie's smirk widened when Archie scowled at him.

"Then what's in that cave?" Archie asked slyly.

"That's none of your business." Maxie retorted sharply.

"You do know you're outnumbered, by like, forty to one?'

"No, Archie, it's you who is outnumbered."

"What in Kyogre's name are you talking about? You're the only one here!"

Maxie sniggered. "I hope you realize that your security system is probably one of the worst I've ever seen. Courtney saw your _wonderful_ little speech. Team Magma has been ready for you."

Archie looked shocked as all of Courtney's unit showed themselves. Shelly clearly saw the color draining from his face.

"Team Aqua, get into that cave, no matter what the cost!" He shouted, while sending out his mightyena.

Battles instantly erupted around the cave. Shelly was up a against an Aqua grunt with a carvanha. It tried to give her mightyena dodged it and finished it off with a bite attack. She was looking for another battle when a young boy with silver hair caught her eye. He was standing, terrified, as he clutched the arm of a metang. She ran over to him, fully aware that this might get her into major trouble, and asked him what he was doing.

"I-I was going to look for some steel type pokemon. B-But then this big battle happened, a-and i don't know what's g-going on." He said shakily.

"Come on, kid, I'm getting you out of here. Stay close to my side. Don't do anything unless I tell you to." Shelly said, and the boy obeyed without question. When they got out to the cable car going to Lavaridge, the boy thanked her much more than she expected.

"Thank you so much, miss! My name's Steven Stone, by the way. Thank you so much for rescuing me! Can you meet me up here tomorrow morning? My father will want to thank you!" he said excitedly.

After say she would try to meet him, she dashed back to the cave where she was supposed to be. She came back to team Aqua being cornered by team Magma. About ten mightyena, two camurupts, and one gorgeus mega camurupt, had Archie, Matt, and nine grunts agaisnt a cave wall. She joined the other grunts as Courtney tied bandanas around Archie's and Matt's eyes.

"Leader Maxie, we have Shelly and her unit cornered. What would you like us to do with them?" Tabitha's voice sounded over a radio. Shelly was terrified for a second. What would they do with her duaghter? She was relived with Maxie's answer.

"Blindfold Shelly, let all of the grunts go. Bring Shelly back to the hideout."

"Yes, sir."

As they walked back to the hideout, Courtney approached Shelly.

"So, Izumi, Why did you leave in the middle of the battle?"


	5. Chapter 5- Nightmares

**Chapter 5 - Nightmares**

Shelly found herself rapidly explaining why she had left the battle.

"Hmm. I'll run this over with Tabitha. If we can get something out of this, you're not punished. If we can't, you are." Courtney said lightly when she had finished.

She and four other grunts were tasked with bringing Archie, Matt, and her daughter down to the room where prisoners where prisoners were kept. It wasn't exactly a prison-cell type thing, but rather a regular looking bedroom that had bars on one side instead of a wall and door. The only notable difference from the rest of the hideout was that it had _air conditioning._ After the past few days, she had gotten used to the hot climate of Mt. Chimney, and so the room actually seemed cold. She was about to turn and leave, because she wasn't on guard duty like two others, when something stopped her.

"Wait, you, Magma!" Archie said loudly. Shelly turned To see archie at the bars. " Can you bring Maxie down here" his voice was pleading, almost desperate. She gave him a curt nod and walked off to go find Maxie. She found him walking down a hallway near his office, with his crobat on his shoulder. Shelly quickly approached him.

"Archie wishes to see you, sir."

"Thank you. Hold on, you're the grunt who got us that meeting with Joseph Stone." He added suddenly. "Tomorrow, you are to meet that boy, and you'll go with Tabitha."

They rounded a corner and went into the room where Archie and his admins were held. Archie was standing by the door; clearly waiting for him. Shelly stepped to the side of the door with the other two grunts when Archie started speaking.

"Maxie, I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm going beg you to let Matt go."

Maxie raised an eyebrow "And why would I do that?"

"Because I have stuff to hold against you."

"Really? Like what?"

"Past uh… Occupations."

Maxie's face turned red. "You wouldn't dare."

Archie gave a little smile. "Yeah, I would."

Shelly was thoroughly confused with this conversation. Had Archie and Maxie met before their teams were formed? And if they had, why was Maxie so flustered by a _job_?

"Fine. I'll let Matt go. And it's just because I don't feel like having your grunts organize some poorly thought out rescue plan." Maxie said, and as Matt was escorted out of the hideout, Maxie shot Archie one of the most annoyed and full-of-hatred looks Shelly had ever seen before, even out of Maxie.

Maxie left the room and Archie proceeded to slumed against a wall, face in his hands. Shelly immediately wanted to go over and comfort him, but there were two other grunts right there. Suddenly remembering that she was not on guard duty, she rushed out of the room to go to bed.

* * *

><p>For the next week, Shelly had constant nightmares about Archie and her daughter, and about her; in what she felt; betrayal in not rescuing them. She always was reminding herself that it was her assignment to act loyal to Team Magma. But it killed her when she was assigned to go guard the room they were held in. One night, after waking up for a particularly awful nightmare, she decided that somehow, she <em>needed <em>to talk to Archie. The next night, Tabitha told her to go and guard Archie and shelly with another grunt. At about midnight, the other grunt was almost asleep.

"H-Hey, you." The other grunt looked up at her. " You can go to bed if you want. I'll handle things here."

The grunt blinked up at her "T-Thanks. I was on guard duty last night too. You'll be alright?"

Shelly nodded and the grunt quickly went to the room where he slept. After about five minutes of waiting to make sure no one was awake, she turned and went into the room. Her daughter was asleep, and Archie was sitting against a wall, his eyes closed, but she could tell he wasn't asleep. Shelly took off her hood and approached the barred door and opened it, stepping inside.

"Archie " she whispered. Archie sat straight up and looked at her.

"Shelly?" He said, his voice wasn't quite confident, and it was much hoarser than usual.

"Yeah, Archie, it's me."Had

* * *

><p>Even after her conversation with Archie, Shelly still had nightmares. But two days later, she was walking by the room they were in, and to her surprise, Maxie came out, looking positively gleeful. Tabitha, who had also been walking by, noticed this to.<p>

"Has he spilled?" Tabitha said, he looked as if he wasn't daring to believe it.

Maxie nodded. "He told me the location of a cave that contains ancient writing, and a picture of Groudon. I don't know exactly what it is, but it could lead to more information about the drought. "

Tabitha's eyes lit up, and Shelly kept walking, her feelings something that shocked her. She felt anger, of course, that Maxie had gotten Archie to crack on such valuable information. She also felt something that scared her a lot. She felt somehow, _happy_. No. She couldn't be loyal to Team Magma. That was impossible. She instantly began trying to forget about it.

* * *

><p>That feeling of happiness gave her more nightmares, even after Archie and the other Shelly had been released. But one night, during a nightmare about Archie kicking her out of Team Aqua, she was awoken to Courtney Sitting down beside her on the bed.<p>

"Come with me." She said softly. She was terrified. had she yelled something in her sleep? When they didn't go to Maxie's office, she was shocked and relieved all at once. She was surprise as they stepped into a room that was clearly Courtney's room. It looked like a girl's room, but everything was magma themed. Courtney told her to sit down in one of her chairs, and she did. Courtney looked at her with the most reassuring and sympathetic look in her eyes.

"What's up? You were thrashing around in your sleep. And before you lie to me, which I would totally understand if you did, I know it's you, Shelly." Shelly shuddered, and paused for a second.

"If you knew about me, why didn't you tell Maxie?" She asked. She was almost scared of the answer. And for the first time, she truly realized why. She _was_ loyal to Team Magma. She _loved_ everything about it. She loved how it seemed cold and untouchable on the outside, but really, it was warm and friendly, welcoming new editions with open arms. She loved the work that she did as a tactics grunt, going over and creating plans that could impact the entire team. She loved how Tabitha seemed tough and didn't really like very many things, but would melt on the spot if he came in contact with a cute pokemon, particularly fairy-types. She loved how Courtney seemed to be a robot, but she would play practical jokes and seemed to get everyone laughing really easily. And most of all, she loved how the group got along with one another, with work during the day and at night, how they would all hang out together.

"I've been so scared of betraying my team while I was here. I wasn't quite sure why, I was always loyal to them. But now…." Shelly trailed off, looking into Courtney's eyes. "I realize that the only reason I was ever scared was because I was loyal to Team Magma."

Courtney smiled warmly. "I totally understand, Shelly. It's getting early." She added suddenly looking down at her clock. "You need to get back to your bed before anyone notices you were gone." Shelly nodded and turned to leave when Courtney put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come back tomorrow night, alright?"


	6. Chapter 6- Team Rocket

**Chapter 6- Team Rocket**

A week later, Shelly was sleepily walking to breakfast when a voice violently woke her up.

"TEAM ROCKET? NOW?" She clearly recognized Maxie's voice from down the hallway. Trying not to linger on it, she tried to forget about it, and instead, remembered last night, and how incredible it was. Visiting Courtney's room at the dead of night was something that made them both extremely tired in the morning, but it was worth it. Courtney was now the best friend she had ever had, and even though Shelly was sent as a spy from Team Aqua, Courtney seemed to love being friends with her. She was scared to think of Archie's reaction, and worse, Maxie's reaction. Courtney was so loyal to Maxie, and Shelly knew that this was tearing her in two.

She spotted Courtney sitting at a table in the back left corner if the dining hall, and she instantly knew something was up. She was usually in the middle of the room, making joke with Tabitha or some grunts. She walked over to Courtney, and upon seeing her, Courtney looked relieved and scared to see her.

"What's up?" She said, pulling up a chair to sit with her.

"I'm so torn, Izumi." She said, not daring to use her real name just incase any other members over heard them. "I want to tell Maxie, because I'm loyal to him, but at the same time, if you were kicked out, I don't know what I would do." Courtney shuttered.

Shelly suddenly had a brilliant idea. "Courtney, what if I betrayed Archie right in front of Maxie? He would know about me, and he wouldn't kick me out!" She said excitedly. Her views had changed so much in the last week. Courtney looked up at her, eyes sparkling.

"That could work… But what about Tabitha?" She said, her expression flickering back to one of worry.

"I think we can just tell him outright, and-" she broke off when Maxie was calling for attention at the front of the room.

Both Shelly and Courtney looked up as Maxie began speaking. "Team Magma, we have reason to believe that a Kanto organization by the name of Team Rocket has been looking to do something with Groudon's birth place. I know that Team Rocket will do anything for money. They could give tours around the place, which would eventually lead to the discovery of our hideout, or, even worse, start mining in their." Outrage swept over the room. Team Magma was very protective of that place, so they might as well shatter the red orb if they wanted to anger them.

"Courtney will take five grunts out with her to get their leader to talk to us before they do anything major. Talk to her if you wish to go."

Courtney looked at Shelly in a questioning way. Shelly nodded, eager to protect Mt. Chimney. Shelly was shocked that she had been so ignorant; why Team Magma was so protective over the volcano now made perfect sense. If Kyogre's birthplace wasn't on the seafloor, Team Aqua would probably defend it just as fiercely. Courtney tapped her on the shoulder to bring her out of her thought, and they left with four other grunts.

As they got out into the volcano, it was quite evident that something was up, because a loud _boom_ sounded right above them. The Magmas instantly started sprinting toward the source of the noise. When they got there, they terrified to see a huge hole in a cave wall. Courtney turned and looked down the tunnel that was created. Courtney wordlessly motioned for them to follow her down the tunnel. Shelly could feel her limbs shaking in fear. What if they blasted through Groudon's birthplace? Her fears were almost instantly relieved at the sight of the end of the tunnel. There were several scientists who were examining the rock, and about ten people in black uniforms that appeared to be grunts, and a man in a black suit with the letter R just barely visible from her angle.

"Hey! You, Rockets!" Courtney shouted without hesitation. The man in the black suit turned around, and looked alarmed at Courtney's furious expression.

"Who are you?" The man asked in a calm, cold voice.

"We are Team Magma." Courtney seemed unfrightened by the fact that he seemed hostile. "Are you the leader of this team?"

"Yes." He said in the same icy cold tone. "My name is Giovanni."

Courtney took a large breath. "My leader wishes to speak with you before you do anything more with this volcano."

"Very well. Shall I take my people with me?" He asked. Courtney nodded. She gave a signal for the five grunt to surround the Rockets. Shelly fell in behind them, watching their every move. When they stepped in to the hideout, she noticed all of them seemed to be struggling not to collapse in the intense heat. She also noticed that the grunts seemed nervous that the Magma grunt were giving them death glares. The grunts and scientists were led to the same room that Archie was held in, and she and Courtney led Giovanni to Maxie's office. Shelly noticed that when Giovanni saw Maxie, a look of shock erupted on his face.

"Hello, . Nice to see you again." Maxie added sarcastically.

"M-Maxie?" Giovanni stammered. Maxie nodded, then smirked.

"So, you are here in Mt. Chimney, to do what exactly?" MAxie asked in the cold tone he usually reserved for Archie.

"We are going to see of we can find a suitable hideout, maybe sell a few slugma, and see if we can find and sell a few rubies." Giovanni said, with a slight shake in his voice.

"You won't be doing any of that. We already have our hideout here, and your team attracts an ungodly amount of attention. And, it is quite possible that we would get blamed for the selling of the Slugma." Giovanni clenched her teeth as Maxie went on. " Those rubies that you want contain primal energy that Groudon needs to undergo Primal De-evolution, which is the reason we exist, so no one on this team will willingly let you take them." This left Giovanni in shock again.

"Primal De-evolution?" He said, a look in his eyes that shelly could only see as some kind of greed. It was clear Maxie noticed this too.

"It's only purpose is to enhance Gourdon's power, allowing it to expand the land mass. It cannot get you any money." he said calmly. "And you ignore me and continue to build there, know that Team Magma will do everything in it's power to drive you out."

Giovanni cleared his throat. "Since we are no threat to your organization, you certainly wouldn't mind if we set up outside your main fields of operation, would you?" At this, Courtney started giggling. Giovanni looked at her sharply.

"What's so funny?" he snapped.

"Well, you see, Mr. Giovanni-" She said in between icy giggles,"-It's clear you haven't done your research about the organizations of Hoenn."

Giovanni stared at her questioningly, so she continued "You see, every place outside of Mt. Chimney and Lilycove city is pretty much war ground between us and Team Aqua. If you're a new organization who doesn't know us, you might as well turn yourselves into the police."

Giovanni was about to speak, Maxie's Crobat flew in, screeching at the top of it's lungs. Maxie tried to make the pokemon quiet down, but his attempts failed, and Crobat dropped something on Maxie's head, still screeching. Maxie grabbed the thing that Crobat had dropped. Maxie's eyes widened slightly, and then he turned to his Crobat.

"Are they here?" he asked it quietly. Crobat let out another earsplitting screech.

"I am very sorry Giovanni, but we will have to cut this meeting short. We have some intruders." He held up the Aqua bandana that Crobat had found, then all of the Magmas hurried out of the room, Courtney, Shelly, and the other grunts led the Rocket members out of the hideout, and Maxie went off to announce that Team Aqua were in the hideout. Shelly knew why they were in the hideout, even if they still thought she was a spy. They were here to talk to _her_. But she needed to break her ties with them in front of Maxie. If she broke them at the wrong time and Maxie kicked her out, she would never forgive herself.

Never.


	7. Chapter 7- Fire over water

**Chapter 7 - Fire over water**

Every magma was on alert. Shelly kept some fake files with her at all times. They contained a plan that were scrapped for a better plan. They would convince Archie of her loyalty, while not betraying Team Magma. They were the best, most complete plans she and Courtney could find. They had spent an entire night shuffling through files to find the perfect one.

Maxie was on end more than anyone else. No one was permitted to work on any files of any kind, and all of the machinery, except security, had electricity cut off from them. All of the grunts were on security patrol. It was a wonder the Aqua lasted an hour, let alone three. She was checking for the I.D that all of the magma grunts were supposed to carry with them at all times. She spotted a grunt walking down the hallway, so she stopped him.

"Can I see your I.D, please?" She demanded. The grunt looked at her for a second.

"Shelly…?" He said quietly,and nervously.

"Ar-Archie?" she stammered, now seeing the well concealed x on his forehead. He was wearing a stolen magma uniform, and pale face make-up. She certainly wasn't expecting it to be him.

"Come this way." she said quietly. Archie nodded. Shelly took him to a mostly unused storage.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't I have met you outside of here?" Archie waved this of with a shrug.

"I kinda wanted to freak Maxie out a little. For fun, ya know? But I do need to talk to you."Archie said, but much quieter than his usually booming voice. "What have you found out?"

"Well, I'm one of the newest grunts, so I haven't really been told to much, but-" Archie looked up at her, a smirk on his face. "I have these." She handed Archie the fake plans.

Archie eyes widened. "This is incredible, Shelly."

Shelly smiled. She suddenly remembered something. "Also, you should probably upgrade our security system, Magmas have been hacking into very easily for years." She knew she probably shouldn't tell him this, but the aqua security system truly was so downright _pathetic, _that she almost felt sorry for it_._

"Stupid nerds. I knew they were onta us somehow. Probably shoulda known that after what happened in this Arceus-forsaken volcano. And I guess you're gonna have to take me to someone now, right?" Archie said, grumbling the last part. Shelly nodded, now trying to fight the pride that now trying to take over her expression. As they walked down the hallway, Archie took out a wet cloth and began removing the makeup from his face. By they were almost halfway to Courtney's office, Shelly was farntically thinking what could happen. What if Archie revealed her to Maxie? She was so deep in thought that she literally ran into Maxie, which caused him to drop the papers he was carrying, and they scattered all over the floor. His coffee splashed out of it's cup and spilled down his jacket.

"Sweet Groudon! Leader Maxie! I'm s-so sorry sir, I-" Shelly stammered before Maxie held up his hand, cutting her off. Archie had erupted into a booming laughter.

"It's fine. I see you found him, then." Maxie said, a. annoyed grimace coming over his face as he looked at the now giggling pirate. "Just get him out of here. I don't have time to deal with him right now. If those Rockets are still out there, tell their leader to come see me. And you." he added, now sending a hateful glare at Archie. "Get lost. And stay out of here." Archie then put on a mock-pouting face.

"Oh, come on Maxie, can't you have a little fun?" He said sarcastically, before turning around so Shelly could escort him out.

* * *

><p><strong>"<strong>**So, I hear it was you who caught Archie today, right?" Courtney asked. Shelly was again going to Courtney's room in the dead of night, as she did every two nights. Shelly nodded, finally able to allow the pride to take over her face. "What was he here for? To talk to you, right?" Courtney asked. It was only with her that she didn't have her computer-like nature. And Courtney was the only person she could truly trust in Team Magma, at the moment. **

"He wanted information I, uh, 'stole'. Gave him the fake files." Shelly said casually, before sitting on Courtney's bed beside her.

"Ha, can't wait to hear what he does that day. Should be over-the-top and not well thought out, like the majority of his plans." Courtney said, smiling. "Oh, and I was talking with Leader Maxie a little earlier, and he's considering promoting you." Shelly felt her heart stop. A promotion? What did she do that was over any of the other grunts? And Archie still though of her as an ally, she couldn't be and admin and them betray him, it whould look way to strange, like she had it planned out….

"Shelly? You O.K? You look kind of freaked out." Courtney said worryingly. Shelly mentally shook herself. _It's not like I'm going to be promoted tommerow, I have time._

"Yeah Courtney, I'm fine, just a little surprised." She said, even lying to herself.


End file.
